Improved machine for shaving the heads of screw-blanks



A. WOOD.

, Making Wood Screws.

No, 22,837. Patented Feb. 1, 1859.

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PATENT OFFICE.

AUBIN WOOD, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SHAVING THE HEADS OF SCREW-BLANKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 22,837, dated February 1, 1859.

To a/ZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, 'AUBIN WOOD,of Wo rcester, in the State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Machine for AShaving or Turning the Heads of Screw-Blanks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figurel is a plan of the machine; Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical section taken in the plane of the axis of the mandrel; Fig. 3, a cross vertical section taken at the line A a of Fig. 2, and Fig. a a face view of the cams which impart motion to the apparatus for inserting the blanks in the jaws of the mandrel.

The same letters indicate like parts in all the gures.

My said invention relates to machinery for separating the blanks one by one from a column moving between ways and delivering them in a horizontal position and inserting them -to the required distance into suitable jaws, by which they are gripped and rotated,

that the heads may be shaved or turned by a suitable cutter.

In the accompanying drawings, a represents a suitable frame, and b a mandrel mounted in suitable puppet-heads and carrying in the usual manner a pair of gripping-jaws c c, for gripping and rotating the screw-blanks. The levers d d of the said jaws extend to the outside of the mandrel and are connected at their rear ends by links c e with a sliding collar f, by which they are operated, the said collar being moved by an elbow-lever g,"which receives motion in one direction to open the jaws by a spring h,

-and in the opposite direction to close the jaws by a cam t' on the main cam-shaft j. The said cam acts on a link la, pivoted to the end of the lever, and is so formed as to operate the lever when the jaws are to be closed and to keep them closed the required length of time, and then passes off to permit them to be thrown open by the spring.

The mandrel is provided with a pulley Z, to receive a belt from some suitable drivingpulley by which it is rotated at the required velocity, and motion is communicated from the mandrel to the cam-shaft j below by a trai-n of wheels m n o p, the latter being on the cam-shaft.

The screw-blanks are supported by any suitable means to a pair of inclined ways q q,

from which they hang by their heads and along which they slide by gravity toward the lower end, where the said ways are curved, and finally become vertical. There is a cap azover the curved and in front of the vertical part of the ways to keep the blanks in place. In front of the vertical part of the said ways there is a wheel r, the periphery of which is beveled or mitered to correspond with the radius of the curvature of the corresponding part of the ways. This wheel has a volute slot s cut entirely through it, which begins at the` periphery and extends in the form of a volute entirely to the hollow center, as it is termed, the size of the said groove being of sufficient width for the free passageof the shank of a screw-blank, and at the periphery where this groove begins the sides are on the same bevel as the periphery of the wheel; but this inclination is gradually changed until the sides become parallel, or nearly so, with the axis, the purpose of this .being to gradually change the inclination of the Ascrewblanks, as will be presently described. This wheel is provided with or attached to a hub t, itted to turn freely between stationary collars u u and on a tube over the feeding-tube fu, and motion is communicated to the said wheel from the cam-shaft;l by an endless spurchain fw, which passes around a spur-wheel on the cam-shaft j and around another spurwheel y, which is fitted to turn on the hub t of the said wheel r, and connected therewith by a spring-spur z, which will carry the wheel r when operating properly, but which will yield to prevent injury to the parts when the wheel meets with any obstruction.

When by the rotation of the wheel r the sharp edge b', at the commencement of the slot s, passes the ways, it enters between the lowest blank of the column hanging in the ways q q and the next in the range and draws it into the slot s, the periphery ofthe wheel preventing the farther descent of the column of blanks until the next revolution. The' blank is thus separated from the column and.

is gradually carried by the volute slot toward the center of the wheel, and the gradual change in the sides of the slot `brings the blank into a horizontal position by the time it reaches the inner end of the slot, and then it is dropped into the bore of a feeding-tube,

which is made hollow for that purpose. In this way at each revolution of the wheel r a blank is received from the ways, gradually brought to a horizontal position, and dropped into the feeding-tube o, which is slotted through the top, as at o', for that purpose. This feeding-tube does not rotate, but is so mounted in the puppets dd as to slide longitudinally and in line with the axis of they mandrel, the extent of its motion being limited by suitable stops.

A rod ejfltted to slide in the feeding-tube, is operated by a lever f', the upper end of which passes through a slot g in the under part of the said feeding-tube fu. The said lever embraces and is pivoted to the camshaft j, its lower end h extending below the shaft. After a blank has been deposited in the bore of the feeding-tube it is to be presented to the jaws on the mandrel, and this is effected in the following manner: The feeding-tube is provided with spring-fingers t" t" near the delivery end, and when a screw-blank is delivered into the feeding-tube the spring-fingers are closed by the tension of their springs, and the screw-blank cannot be forced out of the tube without forcing open the lingers, and this requires more power than is required to move the feeding-tube, which for this purpose is mounted to slide freely in its puppets.

The feeding-tube, with the blank within it, is rst moved toward the jaws, and then the punch-rod forces the blank forward, thereby forcing open the spring-lingers, which act as guides to the shank of the blank'to insure its proper entrance between the jaws, which immediately close to grip it. These movements are imparted by a face-cam j on the camshaft j, which acts on the lower end of the lever f', and as the upper end of the lever is connected with the punch-rod e', the movement of the lever moves the said punch-rod against the head of the blank, pushing it forward until the end of the shank strikes the jaws of the spring-iingers t" t", and meeting with this resistance the feeding-tube is moved forward unt-il its front end comes near to the jaws on the mandrel, and there it is arrested by a suitable stop, and then the continued action of the cam on the lever forces the screwblank against the jaws of the spring-fingers, which are thereby opened to permit the shank to be inserted into the jaws on the mandrel, the spring-fingers acting as guides to insure the proper presentation, the extent of motion of the said lever f determining the position of the head of the blank when inserted in the jaws relatively to the cutter. The face-cam j" then passes by the lower end of the lever,

and another face-cam 7c on the same shaft acts on the other end of the lever f to force back the feeding-tube and the punch-rod within it to their original position, that another blank may be received. So soon as the feeding-tube has been drawn back the shaving-cutter t' is carried forward to shave the head of the blank. This cutter is mounted in a suitable cutter-head m', which rocks on a fulcrum at fn', and it is provided with an arm o', which is acted upon by a cam p on the cam-shaft j, the said cam being of the required form to move the cutter gradually to its work, and then to permit it to be drawn back by the tension of a spring q. The moment the head of the blank has been shaved or turned and the cutter has retired the jaws liberate the blank, which is thrown out by a sliding rod r in the mandrel, which is hollow for that purpose. of the rear end of the mandrel, and is there connected by a joint with the upper end of a lever s', the lower end of which is acted upon at the appropriate time by a cam t on the face Y of the spur-wheel p, before named, and ajs soon as this cam has operated the rod to discharge the blank it passes by to permit the lever to be forced back by the tension of a spring w to draw back the rod. From the foregoing it will be seen that as the blanks descending between the ways by gravity reach the curved part of the ways they are thereby gradually inclined, the lowest one of the column resting on the beveled periphery of the wheel fr until the opening of the slot s comes aroundto receive it. The blank gradually descends into this slot, the outer lip therof passing behind thel shank of that blank and the next one in the column and drawing it into the slot,while the periphery of the wheel stops the farther descent of the column, and as the sides of this slot at the outer end have the same bevel as the periphery of the wheel, and they 1- are twisted-that is, gradually less beveled until at the inner end they become parallel with the axis, or nearly so-it follows that the screw-blank will be gradually inclined untilit is delivered in a horizontal position into the feeding-tube, with the end of the shank toward the gripping-jaws in the mandrel. From this feeding-tube the blank is then transferred to the jaws, as above described, and as this is done by a positive movement of the punch-rod in the feeding-tube it follows that the head of the blank must always be brought to the required position relatively to the cutter.

I do not claim as my invention any part of the machinery for holding and rotating the blank and shaving or turning the head thereof, or for cjecting it from the jaws when fin ished and liberated, as all these have long been known, and may be replaced by equivalent means for performing the same mechanical functions. N or do I claim, separately, the inclined and curved ways for presenting the blanks to the separating and feeding apparatus. Nor do I wish to be understood as making claim, broadly, to the method of receiving the blanks and separating them one by one from the column or range and transferring them to the jaws in a mandrel by means of a punch-rod to determine the exact This rod extends outside position of the head relatively to the cutter, as this has been accomplished before by other means.

` What I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The Wheelfwith its volute and twisted slot, substantially as described, in combination with the ways or the equivalents thereof to present the blanks in order, as described, by means of which combination the blanks are separated one by one and gradually brought to a horizontal or nearly horizontal position, as set forth.

2. In combination with the wheel having' a volute and twisted slot, snbstantiallysnch as described, the feeding-tube and the sliding punch-rod within it, substantially as described, for receiving the blanks one by one from the separating-wheel, as set forth.

' AUBIN WOOD.

Witnesses:

WM. ll.. BISHOP, ANDREW DE LACY. 

